What the Papers Say, Jan. 25, 2013

BBC Monitoring

Jan. 25 2013 00:00

Last edited 10:01

MT

Kommersant

1. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "Yevgeniya Vasilyeva consults with cleaning ladies" says that another criminal case may be opened against Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, former head of the Defence Ministry's property relations department, this time over theft and abuse of office; pp 1-2 (576 words).

2. Vladislav Novyy et al. report headlined "Concern-maker" says that the company AFK Sistema is going to set up a new hi-tech holding company in the hope for state financing; pp 1, 10 (646 words).

3. Anna Balashova and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Osnova being undermined for Telecom" says that the Osnova Telekom company, which has managed to outpace major telecommunications operators in their fight for 4G frequencies thanks to former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's support, is going to replace its top management; p 1 (611 words).

4. Yevgenia Pertseva and Denis Skorobogatko article headlined "Carrera not successful" says that the Russian owners of the Carrera y Carrera jewellery firm have put it up for sale; p 1 (622 words).

5. Musa Muradov article headlined "Militants lose emir of suicide bombers" says that head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has announced the elimination of a major group of militants headed by the Gakayev brothers; p 2 (637 words).

9. Yulia Rybina and Andrei Krasnov article headlined "Dagestan celebrates victory" says that head of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov will retain his post for the time being. The Kremlin, however, signals that the issue of Magomedov's resignation is still in the air; p 3 (628 words).

10. Maxim Ivanov report "Central Electoral Commission calculated per cent" says that the Central Electoral Commission has practically completed work on the new procedure of electing the State Duma; p 3 (550 words).

11. Daria Nikolayeva interview with Labor and Social Protection Minister Maxim Topilin headlined "'Today pension formula alien to system, new one should be made fair'", where he speaks about the upcoming pension reform; p 4 (2,617 words).

12. Alexander Konstantinov interview with Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov headlined "'Our leader is father of integration processes'", in which he speaks about the agenda of his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, cooperation between Moscow and Astana, prospects of the Customs Union and the single economic space; p 5 (804 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Cyber threats approached diplomatically" says that a department in charge of information security is to be set up in the Russian Foreign Ministry; p 5 (714 words).

14. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Hillary Clinton takes ambassador upon herself" says that outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted that she was to blame for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three diplomats in Benghazi in September 2012 and voiced measures to be taken to prevent such tragedies; p 5 (515 words).

15. Dmitry Tratas article published in the opinion column headlined "Rules of game" says that amid the escalating debt crisis in the EU, Germany has announced another repatriation of its gold reserves; p 7 (417 words).

16. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Rosneft not to leave BP without suit" says that Rosneft has objected to withdrawal of the lawsuit of TNK-BP's minority shareholder against BP; p 9 (604 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina and Ivan Rodin article headlined "People's Front recalls justice" says that a new bill on parliamentary elections is almost ready. There is no information whether it envisages an opportunity for parties to set up blocs reportedly because the Kremlin has not made up its mind about the format and the status of the All-Russia People's Front; pp 1, 3 (874 words).

2. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Ivanishvili talks to Medvedev" says that Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos and plans to meet the Russian business elite, which made some Georgian politicians accuse him of intending to alter Georgia's pro-Western course; pp 1, 7 (1,059 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Missile troops deal side blow to Serdyukov" says that another corruption scandal, this time involving the command of the Strategic Missile Troops, is unfolding in the Defense Ministry, which has further tarnished former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's reputation; pp 1, 4 (666 words).

4.Vladislav Maltsev article headlined "Patriarch Kirill brushes aside 'mosquito bites'" says that at a religious event, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has referred to all attacks on the Orthodox Church as "mosquito bites", although last year they were labelled as a "war against the church"; pp 1-2 (391 words).

5. Andrey Serenko article headlined "Failure of 'Stalingrad campaign'" says that Volgograd Communists have managed to collect only 35,000 signatures in support of the initiative to return the name of Stalingrad to the city; pp 1, 6 (503 words).

6. Anastasiya Bashkatova article headlined "Industry takes shine off picture of bright future" says that as the industrial growth totaled only 2.6 per cent in 2012, the Central Bank may be ready to change its tough stance on credit policy; pp 1, 4 (1,065 words).

7. Article by Alexander Kanshin, chairman of the Public Chamber's commission for national security and socio-economic conditions of life of servicemen and veterans, headlined "Council in pocket" says that public councils working under several ministries, including the Defense Ministry, are inefficient and have no powers to affect the ministries' decisions; p 2 (683 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "A Just Russia presents associates with ultimatum" says that the A Just Russia party has suggested that Dmitry and Gennady Gudkov, Oleg Shein should choose between being members of the opposition Coordination Council and the party; p 3 (482 words).

10. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Extremely politicized case" says that the lawyer of Sergei Magnitsky's mother has accused the Investigations Committee of inaction as regards the probe into the theft of R5.4bn from the budget by top officials from Moscow's tax inspectorates; p 3 (663 words).

11. Alexander Zhebin article headlined "Pyongyang to respond to UN with nuclear blast" says that North Korea has voiced its intention to conduct another nuclear test and continue missile launches in response to the UN resolution imposing new sanctions against Pyongyang; p 3 (750 words).

13. Viktor Litovkin interview with head of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Col-Gen Valery Gerasimov headlined "New image of General Staff" timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the General Staff. Gerasimov speaks about work of the General Staff, its historical background, tasks it is facing and the consequences of the army reform; p 5 (1,905 words).

14. Maria Bondarenko article headlined "They demand that special migration regime be imposed in Stavropol Territory" says that activists of the unregistered party New Force are going to stage a rally in support of the Slavic population in the territory; p 6 (399 words).

16. Sokhbet Mamedov article headlined "European MP loses duel to Baku" says that the participants in the PACE session have rejected a resolution on Christopher Strasser's report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan; p 7 (571 words).

17. Svetlana Sukhova interview with Marlene Rupperht, PACE General Rapporteur on Children, headlined "Putin should do everything to change situation with orphans" where she slams the law banning US adoptions of Russian orphans; p 8 (749 words).

19. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "British shown 'key to exit" out of EU" says that British Prime Minister David Cameron has issued an ultimatum: either a drastic reform of the EU is conducted or Great Britain leaves the union; p 8 (538 words).

20. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Washington decides whom to kill and whom to pardon" says that the USA has started using drones to eliminate terrorists in Yemen more often; p 8 (434 words).

Vedomosti

2. Alexandra Terentyeva article headlined "Prokhorov gives up gold" says that Mikhail Prokhorov's company Oneksim has found a buyer for 38 percent of the company Polyus Gold; pp 1, 12 (406 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Agent under cover" welcomes the idea to set up the Russian Finance Agency to be in charge of all state investment and opposes the idea to entrust the VEB with this function instead of creating the agency; pp 1, 6 (600 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Label of stability" says that the State Duma has passed in the first reading a bill enabling regions to give up direct governor elections and comments on the trend; p 6 (289 words).

5. Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Shell versus Gazprom" says that Royal Dutch Shell is expected to sign an agreement with Ukraine on joint development of shale gas in Ukraine. Kiev hopes to use the project as a lever in its talks with Gazprom; p 12 (631 words).

6. Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Higher court for orphans" says that four families, who have started the process of adoption of Russian orphans some time ago, have filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights protesting against the Dima Yakovlev law that endangers health and life of children; p 2 (581 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Zykova interview with head of the Federal Customs Service Andrey Belyaninov headlined "Color of corridor", in which he speaks about violations of customs legislature and changes awaiting customs services; pp 1, 5 (4,300 words).

2. Olga Dmitriyeva article headlined "Leave or stay" says that British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a plan to hold a referendum on the country's membership in the EU in five years; p 8 (700 words).

3. Vladimir Snegirev article headlined "Kabul of defeated expectations" says that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will not put an end to the war as the USA has failed to cope with most tasks they set initially and has only created new problems; p 9 (1,400 words).

4. Vladimir Snegirev article headlined "People in black" looks at the Taleban movement and says that it is an obedient weapon in the hands of the Pakistani special services; p 9 (1,300 words).

Izvestia

1. Petr Kozlov et al. report headlined "A Just Russia may expel Gudkovs" says that the A Just Russia has demanded that Dmitry and Gennady Gudkov, Oleg Shein and Ilya Ponomarev should choose between being members of the party and participating in activities of the non-systemic opposition; p 2 (766 words).

3. Dmitry Runkevich et al. report headlined "US adoptive parents ask Putin to annul Dima Yakovlev law" says that the US-based World Association for Children and Parents has written a letter to President Vladimir Putin and several top Russian officials asking to annul the law banning US adoptions; p 2 (486 words).

6. Igor Yavlyanskiy article headlined "North Korea prepares new test for world" says that North Korea has announced plans to conduct another nuclear test following new UN sanctions; p 7 (354 words).

7. Mikhail Vignanskiy interview with former Georgian Prosecutor-General and Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili headlined "Saakashvili not to be able to return to power", in which he speaks about his conflict with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, which has resulted in his exile to Europe; p 7 (834 words).

8. Anna Akhmadiyeva report "General director of Prokhorov's media group heads Nashe Radio and Best FM" looks at the new management in the company Multimedia Holding; p 8 (600 words).

9. Article by writer and politician Eduard Limonov headlined "Reaping what they have sown" slams the West for unleashing a war in Libya and bringing Islamists to power there, which has resulted in expansion of revolutionary Islamists to North Africa; p 9 (810 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov interview headlined "Prokhorov wants to head Moscow city duma" with Mikhail Vyshegorodtsev, former minister from the Moscow city government and former deputy of the Moscow city duma from One Russia, who is now head of the Moscow city branch of Mikhail Prokhorov's Civil Platform party; p 2 (500 words).

Novaya Gazeta

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Sergei Portonov interview with commander of Western regional troops under the Russian Interior Ministry Sergey Gonchar headlined "In the name of order" who speaks on the issues the troops are facing in Russia's Far East; p 14 (1, 250 words).

Saudi Arabia has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fueling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

The personal details of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, were accidentally disclosed by an Australian official ahead of last year's G20 summit in Brisbane, a news report said Monday.

Russia's brand-new T-14 Armata main battle tank, which is set to be officially unveiled to the public at a Victory Day parade on Red Square on May 9, has reportedly been sighted readying for the ceremonies outside Moscow.